Carla Gugino Replaces Salma Hayek in FASTER Starring Dwayne Johnson

A couple weeks ago, we reported that Salma Hayek had dropped out George Tillman Jr.’s (Notorious)upcoming action-thriller, Faster. Tonight, Variety reports that the film has lost none of Hayek’s talent or hotness as Carla Gugino has come on board to co-star alongside Dwyane Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Moon Bloodgood, and Maggie Grace.

Faster follows an ex-con (Johnson) who is pursued by cops and killers as he attempts to avenge his brother’s death. According to Variety, “Gugino plays the detective in charge of the investigation, hot on his trail and hell-bent on connecting the killings with a decade-old case.” I had to re-read that description a couple of times because my brain kept processing it as simply “Gugino…hot…”

Update: CBS Films sent us a press release about the movie, hit the jump to read it:

CARLA GUGINO JOINS CAST OF CBS FILMS’ “FASTER”

Carla Gugino has signed on to the revenge thriller “Faster,” a co-production of CBS Films and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group. The announcement was made today by Amy Baer, President and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Films, the feature film division of CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS). The project, which started principal photography in early February, is being directed by George Tillman, Jr. (“Notorious,” “Men of Honor,” “Soul Food”) and stars Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton and newcomer Oliver Jackson-Cohen.

Scripted by Joe and Tony Gayton, “Faster” follows an ex-con (Johnson) as he sets out to avenge his brother’s murder with a deadly to-do list. Gugino plays Cicero, a detective who is hot on his trail as she diligently connects details of this recent crime spree with those of the brother’s decade-old killing.

The film is being produced by Castle Rock Entertainment’s Martin Shafer and Liz Glotzer, alongside Tony Gayton and Robert Teitel. Joe Gayton and Dara Weintraub are executive producers.

Gugino was most recently seen on the big screen in “Watchmen” and “Race To Witch Mountain.” She teamed up again with “Watchmen” director Zach Snyder for his upcoming film “Sucker Punch” for Warner Bros. She has over 35 film credits to her name including “Righteous Kill,” “American Gangster,” and “Sin City,” and numerous television credits including her 9 episode stint as Vincent Chase’s agent Amanda Daniels in HBO’s hit series “Entourage.” Gugino is also an acclaimed theater actress whose stage roles include starring turns in Broadway’s Tenessee Williams’ “Suddenly Last Summer” (2006) and Arthur Miller’s “After The Fall” (2004). She most recently starred on Boadway in Robert Falls’ “Desire Under the Elms” for which she received rave reviews.

About CBS Films

CBS Films, established in 2007, plans to produce four to six movies a year spanning all genres, with production budgets up to around $50 million per film.

CBS Films has two films currently in post-production: the romantic comedy The Back-up Plan, starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O’Loughlin, written by Kate Angelo and directed by Alan Poul, in theaters April 23rd, 2010; and the edgy teen romance Beastly starring Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer, written and directed by Daniel Barnz, in theaters July 30, 2010. The film is based on the Alex Flinn novel of the same name. The company’s development slate includes Consent To Kill, an action-thriller based on the Mitch Rapp character from the best-selling Vince Flynn novels; the romantic thriller The Eternals written by Chris Hauty and directed by Jeff Wadlow; The Station, a thriller set against the International Space Station and based on a popular Boom! Studios comic book series; a remake of My Fair Lady, based on the classic musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, which is being co-developed with Columbia Pictures; and an action-adventure feature adaptation of the long-running TV show “Gunsmoke”.